Garmin nüvi 3450 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator(Garmin 010-00009-21)

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Product Features

Edition: 3450 - Base Model

Automatic dual-screen orientation
Speed limit indicator
Lane assist with photoReal junction view
Less than 9mm thick
multi-touch glass display with pinch to zoom

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Product Description

Edition: 3450 - Base Model

Thanks to Garmin Guidance 3.0, nüvi 3450 offers the most advanced

mapping capabilities available. And at just 9 mm, it’s also our thinnest navigator yet.

Navigate with 3-D Terrain

Garmin Guidance 3.0 allows you to quickly look up addresses and services and be guided to your destination with voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names. It comes preloaded with maps that feature 3-D landmarks and terrain for North America. It also comes preloaded with more than 8 million points of interest and offers the ability to add your own.

Know the Lane Before It’s Too Late

Now there’s no more guessing which lane you need to be in to make an upcoming turn. Available in select metropolitan areas, photoReal junction view makes unfamiliar intersections and exits easy to navigate. When you approach an exit or interchange, nüvi 3450 will enter split screen mode and show you a realistic depiction of junctions on your route, complete with road signs and arrows that indicate the proper lane for navigation. Bird's Eye junction view also is included for a top-down look at upcoming interchanges.

Go Beyond Navigation

Point-to-point navigation is just the beginning. With an optional traffic receiver, you can get traffic alerts that update every 30 seconds over the HD Radio broadcasting system. The built-in microSD™ card slot lets you store and use detailed cityXplorer™ maps or download custom voices and vehicles for free from the Garmin Garage. It also comes with a powered mount that charges while you drive, as well as dual-orientation functionality that lets you hold your nüvi vertically or horizontally for added convenience driving or walking.

nüvi 3450’s "Where Am I?" emergency locator provides your exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and more. And Enhanced Exit Services tells you what services you’re approaching on the highway.

What's in the Box
nüvi 3450, preloaded NAVTEQ North America maps, vehicle suction cup mount, vehicle power cable, and quick start manual

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All nüvis come with detailed NAVTEQ maps containing more than 6 million pre-loaded point of interest locations.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

150 of 156 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 starsVisually stunning, great features, but......traffic is poorOctober 21, 2011

By Jackson

Edition:3490LMT - Lifetime Maps & Traffic

The unit looks great, it has very vivid graphics with sharp detail. The navigation features seem good, although it does work a bit differently than other Garmin units I own, so I am working through a learning curve. The "Voice Command" feature is GREAT. It has lots of functionality, and recognizes my voice commands very nearly flawlessly, available commands and options are presented to you on each screen so you don't have to memorize options, it's a CLEAR winner of a feature. The mounting system is easy to use and well designed (I own a Tomtom unit as well, which has a horrible mount system, so this comment is actually important to frustrated Tomtom users). Routing speed is fast (another clear advantage over my tomtom). There are lots of other options I haven't even begun to play with, like Exit Services, points of interest, customizable buttons on the screen, multiple destination routing, and on and on.

So what's not to love? In a word - TRAFFIC. Or the lack of it. And the advertised "HD Traffic" (whatever that means) was one of the main reasons I bought the unit. I live and work in the Pittsburgh, PA area, and normally drive up and down the turnpike (I-76) to/from work. My tomtom receives the traditional NAVTEQ traffic signal for the entire route at full strength. The first 3490LMT I bought never picked up the traffic signal on that route, not once. I called Garmin tech support, they ended up suggesting I return it for another, which I did. The second 3490LMT got a SNIFF of traffic the next day, for about 60 seconds, then gone again. To check it, on the way home I actually detoured through downtown, and sure enough, it finally began picking up signal, although never at full strength that I noticed. The NAVTEQ signal my tomtom picks up without issue is not even registering with the Garmin, much less any of the sexy "update every 60 second traffic" features. Maybe it was supposed to say "updates FOR 60 seconds" not "EVERY 60 seconds." Har har.

So....I'm at a loss as to whether to keep it or return it. I would rate everything but the traffic a solid 5 stars. I rate the traffic a solid 1 star. You can make up your mind how important that feature is to you. For me, I paid a premium price for the unit, with a lot of value deriving from the traffic feature, and without it I'm very disappointed.

UPDATE 26 Oct 2011: I ended up returning the unit. I really did like everything about it except the anemic traffic a lot, and tried to talk myself into not wanting the traffic feature. But in the end I decided that only having a traffic signal for the few blocks surrounding the downtown Pittsburgh area was just too silly - Pittsburgh does actually have a lot of traffice outside those few blocks - and it had to go back. I see other reviews complaining about the traffic as well. I'll wait, and if Garmin releases a new production run with an updated receiver I'll consider buying then. Until then I'll plod along with my Tomtom, which annoys me more every day it seems, heh...

Refurbished GPS All Brand Name Garmin, Magellan, Tomtom

Sunday, September 16, 2012